On my newish to me 33 ft yacht I have a 40yr old Seawolf 510 anchor windlass. It has the following problems
-stripper is broken so on retrieval the 3 strand rode goes around the gypsy and binds the whole thing up.
-The chain/line gets caught up in the hause pipe within seconds. The only way of stopping this happening is pulling the anchor rode up out of the chain locker maintaining tension on it so it will not foul. This takes more strength than pulling the anchor up manually. Looking at the wear marks on the bulkhead this probably has been happening for 40yrs.
-To replace the stripper (I have a spare, it came with the boat) I have to completely remove the windlass. But all the bolts are seized and it's going to be a big job to get it out. Once I pull it apart it will likely end up being a full rebuild.

Basically the setup is unsafe, in a pitching sea on a lee shore it is useless.

So I'm thinking of replacing the windlass with a 12 or 24V capstan with a vertical fall into the locker from the top. Have 60m of 8mm short Grade 43 chain spliced to 40m of 3 strand rode.

What's the perceptions of quality of Muir, Lexmar etc. Some or the motors are interchangeable, is there just a couple of suppliers and they are rebounded for different markets?

I have read a few of the installation manuals, what traps are there for the unwary?

This is the Muir winch that came with my boat. I tossed the galvanized chain and 3 strand nylon rope. I replaced a heap of chain for 12 metres of SS chain and a 100 metres of multiplatt nylon and all my problems went away.

Looks like a home made stainless spade anchor copy? How's it go?

Does multiplat strip out of gypsy better? I like multiplat as it lays better in the locker than the hard 3 strand I have now.

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EastCoastSail said..
So I'm thinking of replacing the windlass with a 12 or 24V capstan with a vertical fall into the locker from the top. Have 60m of 8mm short Grade 43 chain spliced to 40m of 3 strand rode.

I'm a fan of the vertical axis windlass/capstan. They take up very little real estate and seem to have oodles of grunt. This is a Quick Crystal 800w vertical, I think they've been superseded by a Prince range now. I found them very reliable with the odd rinse down. I had 40mtrs of 8mm chain and I never had any fouling issues but with 10" odd of free fall in the locker (really short falls can lead to fouling). Line speed was about 25 m/min. The poor remote lived in the anchor locker and got no love at all and didn't miss a beat.
Counter-clockwise on the winch handle for clutch release, clockwise for normal operation if you're too lazy to go back to turn on the electrics.
The chain is off the gypsy in the pic (was fitting the anchor), the drop is under the cover at the front. The second pic is with the anchor fitted and stowed in the locker.
That's my only experience with vertical axis windlass' so I cant help with other brands sorry, but I can't think of any red flags at all really!

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EastCoastSail said..
Looks like a home made stainless spade anchor copy? How's it go?

Does multiplat strip out of gypsy better? I like multiplat as it lays better in the locker than the hard 3 strand I have now.

It's a copy of an ultra and it's exceptional. The multiplat and the stainless chain just fall in a nice tidy heap and don't tangle like galvanised chain.

A couple of weeks ago I gave my mate a hand to move his mooring with his Cole 42. It has the same Muir winch as my boat. The mooring had about 10 metres of heavy chain and a tram wheel. The tram wheel was well buried. We used the anchor winch gypsy and some14mm double braid to haul up the chain in sections and then the weight out of the sand. I was amazed how well the winch performed.

Had a win.
Decided to see if I could fix the Seawolf without spending any money. Dropped v berth deckhead, removed windlass, pulled out mainshaft, greased it up, installed stripper, put it back together, replaced a few wires and terminals. She works like a charm, hands free recovery of 100m this afternoon. 40m of rope then 60m of chain. Was some pyramiding but that was easily cleared under operation with the boat hook.
Not one dollar spent, a rarity and I'm happy.